Piston ring tool



S. A. DION N E Oct. 24, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

E MM W y Q M w z W s n N a T T A Patented Oct. 24, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- PISTON RING TOOL Stephen A. Dionne, Green Bay, Wis.

Application April 21, 1945, Serial No. 589,531

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a tool for handling piston rings. My improved tool is serviceable both for the removal and mounting of piston rings.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a novel and simplified tool which may be used with facility, while leaving both of the operators hands available for manipulation of the ring in substantially a normal manner.

My improved tool comprises a pair of finger or thumb stalls hingedly connected and provided with ring engaging prongs. With the thumb of [each hand or one finger of each hand engaged in their respective stalls, the prongs may be engaged with the ends of a split ring to spread such ends,

and all the remaining digits of the operators 'hands may be used to support and guide the ring, :the operation being so natural that the presence -or absence of the tool makes little diiference in the way the operator uses his hands. the digits engaged in the stalls constitute exten- In effect,

Fig. 1 is a view taken in section horizontally through a piston and illustrating, partially in plan and partially in section, a tool embodying the present invention as such tool appears in use.

Fig. 2 shows in plan the tool of Fig. 1 as it appears when the ends of the split ring have been more widely separated, the ring being fragmentarily illustrated.

Fig. 3 is a detail View of the tool in perspective as viewed from its inner side.

The piston 4 has the usual ring groove at 5 in which the split piston ring 6 is disposed.

My improved tool comprises a pair of metal finger stalls 1, 8, having hinge ears 9 and a pintle Ill connecting their disk-like ends ll, l2, at a point near their respective curved outer walls The precise shape of the finger stalls is immaterial. It is immaterial whether they are skeletonized or are closed as shown. The end walls ll, l2, are optional. The stalls are preferably short enough to terminate at about the first joint of the operators thumb or forefinger and are preferably shorter on the inside than on the outside, as clearly appears from each of the several views.

The stalls are provided at their inner side portions, remote from the hinge pintle ill, with laterally projecting prongs l5, it. These prongs are preferably not materially greater in length than the cross section of the average piston ring 6 and so located as to spread the split ends of the ring when the stalls are hingedly manipulated.

Either the operators thumbs or his forefingers may be inserted in the stalls to operate them. In either case, the rest of the operators hands may extend in a natural manner about the ring 6 which is to be manipulated. This is important because it enables the operator to use for the support and guidance of the ring those digits of both hands which are not engaged in the manipulation of the tool. If the ring were supported solely at its split ends, it would tend to sag at its closed side and, therefore, to escape from accurate registration with the groove, or to catch on other rings. Since the operators hands are freely available for supporting and guiding the ring at both sides of the piston, the ring may with facility be opened or closed and manipulated to and from position. The spreading and reclosing of the ring is accomplished by simply flexing the joints of the digits which are engaged in the respective stalls l, 8.

I claim:

1. A piston ring tool comprising a pair of stalls each adapted to receive a digit of an operators hand, each stall comprising an open ended socket of substantial depth to receive a major portion of a joint of said digit, a hinge connecting said sockets adjacent their side and end so that the open ends of said sockets will be oppositely directed when said sockets are moved upon said hinge to a position of substantial alignment, each of said sockets having a closed end wall at its end adjacent the hinge, and a prong extending laterally away from the hinge at the side of each socket opposite said hinge.

2. A piston ring tool comprising a pair of encircling elements each of substantial extent to receive and encircle a length of the digit of an operators hand and providing opposed ends, means adjacent an end and side of each element to directly hinge said elements together so that they may be pivoted into axial alignment for reception of an operators digits at the opposite ends as said digits move toward each other, and prongs extending generally radially outwardly from a point adjacent the Wall of each element diametrically opposite to said hinge location and at said hinged end.

3. A piston ring tool comprising two sockets, each socket being open at least at one end and being of substantial length to receive a digit of an operators hand, hinge means directly connecting each of said sockets at the end opposite said one end, a ring engaging prong carried by each socket at said opposite end and each prong extending at 10 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Asmus Jan. 27, 1865 Edwards May 25, 1886 Besser Oct. 8, 1912 Harper Feb. 25, 1913 Gleason et a1. June 9, 1914 Elliott Mar. 12, 1918 Muhleisen Sept. 10, 1918 Madden Oct. 11, 1927 Berkman Dec. 11, 1934 Nyberg Mar. 14, 1944 

